Worth Waiting For
by I.Am.Fire
Summary: Because sometimes, love is worth waiting three thousand years for.


Worth Waiting For

**AN: Yeah, I'm back. I've had this idea in my head for a while now, so I hope you like it! Dedicated to TheOceanIsMyInkwell, for being awesome and beta-ing my stories on a horrifically short notice. Oh! Also, this is MY version of Aeolus, and he's never had a wife or lover in this fic. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I'd love to say I owned Aeolus, but we all know the answer to that, don't we? All I own is Vivienne. I also do not own Tinker bell or puberty. **

She was named Vivienne. Her hair was wild, her eyes bright, and her spirit free. Everyone who met her knew that about her. But they did not know one thing, one crucial thing that would define the rest of her life: she was forever windswept. Even when she was a baby, she was watched over by Aeolus. Aeolus, legendary God of the wind, who had helped Odysseus reach home, whose motherless son Zephyrus had carried Psyche to Eros. Since the time Vivienne was born, there was always a faint breeze surrounding her, stirring her hair. Her mother had noticed it before, but chalked it up to coincidence.

It was not a coincidence.

As Vivienne grew up, Aeolus stayed with her. The other Gods, especially Apollo, were puzzled over this. "But why are you always with her? Why not amuse yourself with some other mortal girl until she is older?" they asked again and again. "Because," he'd always reply, "because she is worth waiting for."

And wait he did. He was there at her first day of school, watched her skip to the bus with a new Tinker bell backpack and eager grin. He protectively surrounded her as she met her new teacher, and saw the other kids. He smiled, amused, at the puzzled look on the teacher's face when she felt the sudden breeze in the still classroom. He was there at the playground, where she made new friends and frolicked by the swing set. Because he loved her, even as a little girl with two missing front teeth and a tendency to overreact.

He even loved her through her gawky preteen years. He loved her through the braces and the glasses, the training bras and shaving nicks on her legs. To him, she was all the more beautiful during that time. Because under her awkward mask shone the free spirit he had fallen for. And he knew that too soon the coltish girl would be gone, and in her place the beautiful, wild young woman she was destined to be. And so he waited. Despite all the mockery and insults and reprimands of the flightier deities, he waited.

Now she was fifteen, and smart enough to sense that the constant wind sweeping her hair was not normal. Soon he would give her the gift of Sight, something Gods are rarely allowed to do. In fact, it had happened maybe once in three thousand years. But with Aphrodite on her side, Zeus was easy to convince. Thinking back, Aeolus smiled wryly. Aphrodite had suddenly become obsessed with him and Vivienne. Though she appeared stupid and vain on the outside, Aphrodite knew true, deep love like no other God or Goddess on Olympus. She understood, and was touched by the intensity of his feelings. Aeolus owed much to her. Suddenly he was jolted back to the present by the sound of the back door shutting.

As Vivienne walked out into the backyard, Aeolus had a sudden feeling in his gut. She _knew._ Well, maybe she didn't know exactly what was going on, but she sensed him there, somehow. Now was the time to reveal himself! He felt his heart jolt and flutter ecstatically. Vivienne sat purposefully down on the bench in front of the backyard pool. It was a warm, lazy July evening, and she looked around slowly to drink it all in. He examined the curve of her jaw, the sweep of her neck. But it wasn't her beauty that he fell for, although she was beautiful; it was her soul. Her untamed, fierce personality, her ability to bring joy to the most miserable corners of the world. That's what he had fallen in love with her for, what he had sacrificed and waited for. Now he again watched her, waited for her to make the first move.

"Um, hello? Wind? Can you…hear me?" she tentatively called, then groaned. "What is wrong with me? I'm talking to the freaking _wind,_ for God's sake! I must be going crazy!" But despite her ranting, she tilted her head back and shivered as he gently caressed her. "I _know_ this is stupid, but the wind feels so- alive," she muttered. Aeolus' face materialized, although it was invisible to her. Her head was still tilted back, as if she was…waiting for something…

He softly pressed his invisible mouth against her lips.

Vivienne could not feel him, exactly, couldn't discern the shape of his mouth, but instead felt a compression of air gently brushing against her lips. He circled his nonexistent arms around her, lovingly stroked her back. She could definitely feel _something_, and Aeolus took it as a good sign that she did not run away screaming. The breeze encircling her grew heavier, more tangible and fierce. She was still in the same position, a smile crossing her lips.

Slowly, slowly, he began to materialize.

At first, he was just wind. Then arms and legs started to appear and take shape. A head, a torso…his materialization became faster. Soon enough he was fully there, Vivienne could feel him, but he was still invisible. She opened her eyes wide as he came into being. Aeolus stepped back and stood in front of her. She was remarkably brave, he thought, to not run or faint or call the police. She just stood there.

"Hello, Vivienne."

"He- hello…who are you? I feel like I've known you all my life." Aeolus smiled, desperately trying to hide his ecstasy. It would not do to frighten her.

"My name is Aeolus, and you have known me all your life. Well, perhaps _you_ didn't know _me,_ but I certainly know you. Ever since you were born, I've been there. Protecting you."

"How? How have you always been there? Why haven't I seen you? Where did you come from? Isn't Aeolus the Greek God of the Wind? The Greek gods died out years ago, didn't they? So how come you're here? Wait a second…_have you been watching me in the shower?_" Aeolus grinned. With Vivienne around, his life wouldn't have another boring moment.

"To answer all of your questions, in order…" she flushed. "I've always been here by being the wind and always surrounding you. You haven't seen me because I was invisible. I came from Mt. Olympus. Yes, I am the Greek God of the Wind. No, we simply relocated to America. That's how I'm here. And no, I have not been watching you in the shower. I respect your personal privacy." He expected her to hit him with another wave of accusations and suspicions, but instead, to his astonishment, she just smiled and a look of utter clarity stole over her.

"Yes…" she breathed, "yes, I know you. You've always been at my side. But…why?"

"Because I love you," he said simply. "Because there's never been anyone else, even from the beginning. Because…you were worth waiting for."

**AN: Should I make this a one-shot? Because my (sometimes annoying) Muse is demanding me to make it longer, because Aeolus and Vivienne's relationship is turbulent and exciting. Let me know what you think, yeah?**

**~Avalonfreak**


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